Looking to continue his march up the rankings, unbeaten Thomas “Top Dog” Williams, Jr. takes on his toughest challenge to date when he faces former titleholder Gabriel “El Chico Guapo” Campillo in the 12-round main event of ESPN Friday Night Fights on Friday, August 1 from the Little Creek Casino Resort in Shelton, Washington.
Brian Kweder, ESPN senior director of programming and acquisitions, said, “Thomas Williams, Jr. has been impressive on Friday Night Fights this season and Gabriel Campillo was part of what may have been our best card last year at U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago, so we are expecting a dogfight.”
“Little Creek Casino Resort and the Squaxin Island Tribe are very excited to be bringing the ring back to the Skookum Creek Event Center for the latest in our ESPN Friday Night Fight series,” said Little Creek CEO Michael Starr.
Said Dan Goossen of the clash of world contenders, “These are the type of fights that make or break a young upcoming fighter like Williams. Three of Campillo’s losses have been more than controversial, they have been outright travesties, and with a potential world title opportunity at stake, he knows this is his chance to right all the wrongs. This is why our matchmaker Tom Brown believes this is a terrific matchup for the fans and ESPN viewers and why it will tell us everything we need to know about Williams.”
“We’ve brought some outstanding events to Little Creek Casino Resort and to their supportive fans in Washington State and I believe this one has the makings of being a real war involving world class boxers,” continued Goossen.
Currently ranked #6 by the WBO, #8 IBF and #9 WBC, Williams of Fort Washington, Maryland has compiled a record of 17 victories, 12 of them by knockout with no losses.
With two explosive knockouts under his belt this year, Williams will be looking to land the big one on Campillo.
In his first visit to the Little Creek Casino Resort on January 24, Williams had to climb off the canvas, and return the favor in scoring an exciting first round stoppage of world ranked contender Cornelius White earning an ESPN Sports Center Top Ten Highlight.
In his next bout from Rancho Mirage, California, Williams knocked out former world title challenger Enrique Ornelas in the third round on April 24 in a bout also telecast on ESPN Friday Night Fights.
Fighting out of Madrid, Spain, the former World Champion Campillo, having held the title in 2009-2010, has built a record of 23-6-1 (10 KO’s) in a 12-year career, which has been marked by numerous questionable decisions against world-class competition. Campillo, currently ranked #14 by the IBF, also holds the distinction of being managed by Sergio Martinez, the former Middleweight World Champion.
In his most recent notable bout in Chicago on August 16, 2013 and televised by ESPN Friday Night Fights, Campillo battled recent world title challenger Andrzej Fonfara, who on May 24, 2014 found himself on the wrong end of a close decision loss against hot-shot Light Heavyweight World Champion, Adonis Stevenson.
In his fight against Fonfara, Campillo gave the hard hitting Polish native all he could handle through the first seven rounds, using an excellent jab, and a tight defense; but in the eighth round Campillo was rocked hard by the hometown favorite and in the ninth stopped from a barrage of punches. At the time of the stoppage Campillo was ahead on the scorecards.
Within his other losses are three highly controversial decisions, a split decision to World Champion Tavoris Cloud in February 2012, a January 2010 split decision to Beibut Shumenov (losing his World Championship) and a majority decision draw to Karo Murat in September 2008, who went on to be the mandatory bout against the ageless Bernard Hopkins.
The Williams-Campillo battle, promoted in association with Sampson Boxing, will be televised live on ESPN 2, beginning at 9 PM ET/6 PM PT. Advance tickets priced at $40 can be purchased online at www.Little-Creek.com. Doors will open at 4:00 p.m. with the first bell at 4:30 p.m.
